Gastroenterology, is one of the earliest to investigate US patients with the coronavirus, and while researchers note that their data is taken from an early stage in the current pandemic, and just from one single institution, they add that the findings do suggest that those exposed to the coronavirus and who are experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms should also be tested. The team also point out that there is a growing body of evidence in China and Singapore that COVID-19 patients also experience gastrointestinal symptoms and not just respiratory problems.
“In our current cohort of patients, all patients had respiratory symptoms prior to the development of gastrointestinal symptoms,” Podboy said. “No patients had gastrointestinal symptoms prior to the development of respiratory symptoms or as their only manifestation of COVID-19.”
He added, “However, that may be a product of who we were testing. Currently, testing is only offered for patients that meet specific criteria — criteria that often require the presence of pulmonary symptoms.”
